Ute Wassermann (Vocals)

Ute Wassermann, Photo: Georgia Fanelli

As a vocal artist and composer, Ute Wasserman is well-known for her multifaceted tonal language, which she performs in various contexts of experimental music. Her vocal style differs from the usual sound of the human voice and elicits associations of birds, machines or electronics. Furthermore she “masks” her voice with the use of bird whistles and sings through resonating and sound amplifying objects, and she creates sound installations.

Biography

Ute Wassermann studied Fine Arts (Sound installation/performance) at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg and the University of California, San Diego, with Henning Christiansen and Allan Kaprow, among others. As an improvisation artist she regularly performs with internationally known musicians. She is a member of the Berlin based composer performer ensemble Les Femmes Savantes. In contemporary music she performs as a soloist at festivals, on stages, in museums, and clubs throughout Europe, Australia, Asia and the US. She is the recipient of several scholarships, in 2015 for example she got a grant from Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Italy.

John Russell (Guitar)

John Russel

Russell favors wide intervals, a resolutely segmented, percussive attack, and systematic variation of timbre and means of production (open string, fretted, harmonic, behind-the-bridge pling). In a duo, his playing is more energetic and obvious than in a trio or bigger ensemble. With only one other player to react to, Russell responds rapidly to every phrase, generating a full and fluid soundscape. It is difficult to judge which is the more impressive, the speed of his brain or that of his fingers; but both have to be spot on to produce improvised music this fluid and fluent.

Biography

John Russell got hold of his first guitar in 1965 and began playing in and around London from 1971. His involvement with the Free Music scene came early, from 1972 onwards. From 1974 his work extended into teaching, broadcasts (radio and television) and touring (continuing) in the United Kingdom and abroad, including Austria, Belgium, Canada; Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg, Sweden and Switzerland.

In 1991, he started MOPOMOSO which has become the UK’s longest running concert series featuring mainly improvised music.

Gratkowski / Tramontana “Instant Songs”

“Instant Songs” is the term with which Sebastiano Tramontana and Frank Gratkowski describe the music played in their duo performances. The music is improvised but sounds very composed and each piece has its own unique character.

Some of them have beautiful melodies, others include the voices of the players or use extended techniques like multiphonics and noise. Some are very romantic, some very abstract. But it’s all about the musical dialogue and the instant composition of songs. What both players love in their duo is that the music is very different from the other projects they are involved in.

Frank Gratkowski (l), Sebi Tramontana (r), Photo: Christina Marx

Sebi Tramontana (Italien | Italy)

Musician, Graphic Artist

The trombonist is well-known as a musician with a unique style of interpretation, as a composer between jazz and contemporary classical music and also as a member of the Italian Allstar ensemble Instabile Orchestra. Collaborations with, among others, Mario Schiano, Frank Gratkowski, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Joelle Leandre, Paul Lovens, and Carlos Zingaro.

He has played in Europe, Japan, the US, and Canada. Tramontana lives in Munich.

Frank Gratkowski (Deutschland | Germany)

Musician, Composer

Especially as when playing solo or in small ensembles the unusual clarity of his play is audible. Gratkowski is also known as being a talented researcher of sounds, who continuously works on the expansion of his sound repertory and on the exploration of tonal possibilities of his instruments. he performs his micro-tonally oriented compositions with the Multiple Joy[ce] Orchestra.

Gratkowski plays in a number of ensembles, among these since 1999 the duo with the Italian trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana. He has played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz and contemporary music Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Zagreb, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Odessa, Huddersfield, London.

He has been teaching saxophone and ensembles at the Cologne, Berlin and Arnhem Conservatory of Music and is giving workshops all around the world.